The AMA has joined forces with ABATE of Indiana and the BlueRibbon Coalition to ask the Indiana Legislature to petition federal authorities to open the Hoosier National Forest to responsible motorized off-road recreation.

The U.S. Forest Service “has followed an exclusionary management policy since the 1970s with regard to motorized recreation,” the groups wrote in a joint letter seeking a state resolution supporting their stance.

“For more than 40 years, the HNF has discriminated against off-road vehicle recreationists through unfair planning and management practices. This has resulted in zero miles of motorized trails—the total exclusion of this segment of the public from public lands,” the letter stated.

The only public land in Indiana accessible for motorized off-road use amounts to about 100 miles of trail at two abandoned coal mining sites.

Meanwhile, hikers enjoy 3,600 miles of trails on 376,800 acres in the Hoosier National Forest and state parks and forests. There are 600 miles of trails open to equestrians and mountain-bike riders.